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******

by ****** » Sat Aug 01, 2009 2:20 pm

thefourthman wrote:Hey HOJ,Since you seem to check out the ebay forums, did ebay ever say why they were not allowing us to accept checks and money orders anymore?I remember their official statement, which was stupid, because anyone who runs a business knows that you wait for money orders and checks to clear before you freaking ship items, but maybe that's not true. Maybe business people don't have common sense.

Because they can't take a percentage on the back end through PayPal if people are paying with checks/money orders.

******

thefourthman wrote:Hey HOJ,Since you seem to check out the ebay forums, did ebay ever say why they were not allowing us to accept checks and money orders anymore?I remember their official statement, which was stupid, because anyone who runs a business knows that you wait for money orders and checks to clear before you freaking ship items, but maybe that's not true. Maybe business people don't have common sense.

Because they can't take a percentage on the back end through PayPal if people are paying with checks/money orders.

The adventures are Karic are a special journey that begin here. Long enthralled by the local Blacksmith's tales of an ancient order of Mice who keep all of mousedom safe, Karic is a boy prone to fantasy day dreams and eager to play swords and sorcery. When a stranger comes to town with a tale no one will hear, a dark destiny is carved out for our young hero.

The Mice Templar is a love letter to fantasy. It throws in a tablespoon of Star Wars, a cup of Redwall, a knob of Nymh, and a dash of The Lord of the Rings, but manages to come off not only as homage, but as a unique entity. This volume deals almost exclusively with how Karic becomes the last hope for an ancient order and a dying religion. He is not the first choice of the masters who need to see the legacy carried on, but he is a choice and that is something that they have long searched for.

Glass and Oeming's story is magnificent in its density and scope. The schedule of these first six issues was a bit of a problem, it seemed to come out almost haphazardly. The amount of story presented in each chapter and the unfortunate, yet incorrect, assumption that all the mice looked the same, made it hard to follow on a bi-monthly or longer schedule. The momentum of the book was lost in between chapters. The new volume which saw its first issue released this past Wednesday promises to be different with a new artist and its next issue shipping in a mere two weeks.

As you can see below, the review for that first issue of Volume Two showed that there was no love lost to this reader during the wait. That love for the story sparked this rereading and short review of the first part of the epic and it was not time wasted. This is a great story that is massively entertaining. Like those Lucas films that it seems to admire, this is one worth enjoying time and time again.

The adventures are Karic are a special journey that begin here. Long enthralled by the local Blacksmith's tales of an ancient order of Mice who keep all of mousedom safe, Karic is a boy prone to fantasy day dreams and eager to play swords and sorcery. When a stranger comes to town with a tale no one will hear, a dark destiny is carved out for our young hero.

The Mice Templar is a love letter to fantasy. It throws in a tablespoon of Star Wars, a cup of Redwall, a knob of Nymh, and a dash of The Lord of the Rings, but manages to come off not only as homage, but as a unique entity. This volume deals almost exclusively with how Karic becomes the last hope for an ancient order and a dying religion. He is not the first choice of the masters who need to see the legacy carried on, but he is a choice and that is something that they have long searched for.

Glass and Oeming's story is magnificent in its density and scope. The schedule of these first six issues was a bit of a problem, it seemed to come out almost haphazardly. The amount of story presented in each chapter and the unfortunate, yet incorrect, assumption that all the mice looked the same, made it hard to follow on a bi-monthly or longer schedule. The momentum of the book was lost in between chapters. The new volume which saw its first issue released this past Wednesday promises to be different with a new artist and its next issue shipping in a mere two weeks.

As you can see below, the review for that first issue of Volume Two showed that there was no love lost to this reader during the wait. That love for the story sparked this rereading and short review of the first part of the epic and it was not time wasted. This is a great story that is massively entertaining. Like those Lucas films that it seems to admire, this is one worth enjoying time and time again.

Attorney at Law

I think I read the first issue of the previous Mice Templar series for the review group. I made it to the 2nd or 3rd issue before my LCS stopped having it. I wasn't that in to it, so wasn't too bothered.

This first issue of Mice Templar: Destiny, I loved. It was generous to give such an in-depth round up of the previous goings on in the series. Then from the first panel, I realised that this was a story that had found some legs. Ideas seemed a lot clearer in their delivery with the overall focus of the plot being very strong.

The opening few pages detailing what I assume to be a memory of conflicts waged in the previous series shows how Cassius cut his teeth on the battle field. Now the master, he seems older, wiser and with a chip on his shoulder as he attempts to teach Karic, his ward, the way of the Templar. It works because it's a simple straight forward fantasy concept. There's no point confusing the audience with grand ideas at this point, especially if they're new and having to contend with such a volume of information about the universe that they hold in their hands.

This all leads on to Cassius and Karic getting lost in a haunted forest. It's impressive that such a rich backstory for the forest was included without disrupting the flow of the book. The main section of the comic involves Karic experiencing a nightmarish delusion brought on by his experiences in the forest. It's clear that he's keen to succeed in his quest, but has many fears that he might fail and let the people relying on him down. Again, standard fantasy faire, but working well given the situation.

This all leads to a climactic rescue by the summoned Lord Wotan and a fine example of the superb art in the book. A double page spread shows Lord Wotan and his fellow owls banishing away the nightmare demons to rescue Cassius and Karic.

Big fan of this first issue, hopefully it'll carry on to the next, which I'll definitely pick up in two weeks time.

Attorney at Law

I think I read the first issue of the previous Mice Templar series for the review group. I made it to the 2nd or 3rd issue before my LCS stopped having it. I wasn't that in to it, so wasn't too bothered.

This first issue of Mice Templar: Destiny, I loved. It was generous to give such an in-depth round up of the previous goings on in the series. Then from the first panel, I realised that this was a story that had found some legs. Ideas seemed a lot clearer in their delivery with the overall focus of the plot being very strong.

The opening few pages detailing what I assume to be a memory of conflicts waged in the previous series shows how Cassius cut his teeth on the battle field. Now the master, he seems older, wiser and with a chip on his shoulder as he attempts to teach Karic, his ward, the way of the Templar. It works because it's a simple straight forward fantasy concept. There's no point confusing the audience with grand ideas at this point, especially if they're new and having to contend with such a volume of information about the universe that they hold in their hands.

This all leads on to Cassius and Karic getting lost in a haunted forest. It's impressive that such a rich backstory for the forest was included without disrupting the flow of the book. The main section of the comic involves Karic experiencing a nightmarish delusion brought on by his experiences in the forest. It's clear that he's keen to succeed in his quest, but has many fears that he might fail and let the people relying on him down. Again, standard fantasy faire, but working well given the situation.

This all leads to a climactic rescue by the summoned Lord Wotan and a fine example of the superb art in the book. A double page spread shows Lord Wotan and his fellow owls banishing away the nightmare demons to rescue Cassius and Karic.

Big fan of this first issue, hopefully it'll carry on to the next, which I'll definitely pick up in two weeks time.

Rain Partier

thefourthman wrote:Hey HOJ,Since you seem to check out the ebay forums, did ebay ever say why they were not allowing us to accept checks and money orders anymore?I remember their official statement, which was stupid, because anyone who runs a business knows that you wait for money orders and checks to clear before you freaking ship items, but maybe that's not true. Maybe business people don't have common sense.

There was never any official statement that made ANY sense at all. It wasn't like it was something buyers were in favor of, and sellers were split on the issue (not like eBay cares one way or the other). Most sellers against banning paper pay of course.

My guess is that when eBay acquired PayPal they did the math and decided they could get away with something that would be illegal in almost any other selling venue.

If you follow auctionbytes or the people who project where eBay is going with things down the road, it sounds like eBay intends to introduce a payment system where the $$ is instantly taken from a buyer's account when they buy or win an item and then held until the seller proves shipment. But who knows?

Rain Partier

thefourthman wrote:Hey HOJ,Since you seem to check out the ebay forums, did ebay ever say why they were not allowing us to accept checks and money orders anymore?I remember their official statement, which was stupid, because anyone who runs a business knows that you wait for money orders and checks to clear before you freaking ship items, but maybe that's not true. Maybe business people don't have common sense.

There was never any official statement that made ANY sense at all. It wasn't like it was something buyers were in favor of, and sellers were split on the issue (not like eBay cares one way or the other). Most sellers against banning paper pay of course.

My guess is that when eBay acquired PayPal they did the math and decided they could get away with something that would be illegal in almost any other selling venue.

If you follow auctionbytes or the people who project where eBay is going with things down the road, it sounds like eBay intends to introduce a payment system where the $$ is instantly taken from a buyer's account when they buy or win an item and then held until the seller proves shipment. But who knows?

Rain Partier

thefourthman wrote:I know that, I wondered if anyone ever called them on it.

There was talk of someone taking it to court, but I never heard another peep about it. I despise the legal system, but I suppose a class-action suit by a large group of sellers would be the only way to try?

I think most sellers, like myself, simply go ahead and accept paper payments when the buyer asks, but don't advertise taking them so as not to have listings pulled. Although eBay claimed they would be monitoring how many sales go through PP checkout and penalize those taking too much paper but I've never heard of it being enforced. Doesn't mean it isn't, though.

Rain Partier

thefourthman wrote:I know that, I wondered if anyone ever called them on it.

There was talk of someone taking it to court, but I never heard another peep about it. I despise the legal system, but I suppose a class-action suit by a large group of sellers would be the only way to try?

I think most sellers, like myself, simply go ahead and accept paper payments when the buyer asks, but don't advertise taking them so as not to have listings pulled. Although eBay claimed they would be monitoring how many sales go through PP checkout and penalize those taking too much paper but I've never heard of it being enforced. Doesn't mean it isn't, though.

Review Grouper

I had a hard time reviewing this, it is well written and the art is quite capable yet I still have this feeling of eh after I read it. It is the same feeling I got while I was reading Volume 1... I think I may just not be into this. I can't put my finger on what leaves me indecisive because I feel like I should give it a good score but at the same time I really didn't enjoy it. I should love this, mice with swords, lots of blood, big mythological story... Maybe it is the part where Karic and Cassius are trapped in the Haunted Wood and you can tell the writer and artist are trying so hard to make it seem like they are in danger but it seemed like they tried too hard and it went on for too long and when Karic calls upon Wotan for his get out of jail free card it didn't deem worthy for the situation they were in... iono...

I had a hard time reviewing this, it is well written and the art is quite capable yet I still have this feeling of eh after I read it. It is the same feeling I got while I was reading Volume 1... I think I may just not be into this. I can't put my finger on what leaves me indecisive because I feel like I should give it a good score but at the same time I really didn't enjoy it. I should love this, mice with swords, lots of blood, big mythological story... Maybe it is the part where Karic and Cassius are trapped in the Haunted Wood and you can tell the writer and artist are trying so hard to make it seem like they are in danger but it seemed like they tried too hard and it went on for too long and when Karic calls upon Wotan for his get out of jail free card it didn't deem worthy for the situation they were in... iono...

Outhouse Editor

House of J wrote:There was never any official statement that made ANY sense at all. It wasn't like it was something buyers were in favor of, and sellers were split on the issue (not like eBay cares one way or the other). Most sellers against banning paper pay of course.

My guess is that when eBay acquired PayPal they did the math and decided they could get away with something that would be illegal in almost any other selling venue.

If you follow auctionbytes or the people who project where eBay is going with things down the road, it sounds like eBay intends to introduce a payment system where the $$ is instantly taken from a buyer's account when they buy or win an item and then held until the seller proves shipment. But who knows?

that would be a horrible idea... that leaves the seller with a huge problem if they are running tight. If everyone used paypal shipping, that wouldn't even be needed, so it would be smarter to require paypal shipping first. The other problem there is that Paypal needs to offer all the sevices of the USPS/UPS not just a select few.

Outhouse Editor

House of J wrote:There was never any official statement that made ANY sense at all. It wasn't like it was something buyers were in favor of, and sellers were split on the issue (not like eBay cares one way or the other). Most sellers against banning paper pay of course.

My guess is that when eBay acquired PayPal they did the math and decided they could get away with something that would be illegal in almost any other selling venue.

If you follow auctionbytes or the people who project where eBay is going with things down the road, it sounds like eBay intends to introduce a payment system where the $$ is instantly taken from a buyer's account when they buy or win an item and then held until the seller proves shipment. But who knows?

that would be a horrible idea... that leaves the seller with a huge problem if they are running tight. If everyone used paypal shipping, that wouldn't even be needed, so it would be smarter to require paypal shipping first. The other problem there is that Paypal needs to offer all the sevices of the USPS/UPS not just a select few.

Outhouse Editor

House of J wrote:There was talk of someone taking it to court, but I never heard another peep about it. I despise the legal system, but I suppose a class-action suit by a large group of sellers would be the only way to try?

I think most sellers, like myself, simply go ahead and accept paper payments when the buyer asks, but don't advertise taking them so as not to have listings pulled. Although eBay claimed they would be monitoring how many sales go through PP checkout and penalize those taking too much paper but I've never heard of it being enforced. Doesn't mean it isn't, though.

I've been trying to get our store in the proseller program for about six months, my owner does enough stupid shit that I have to be proactive about, I just tell them it is against the policy.

Outhouse Editor

House of J wrote:There was talk of someone taking it to court, but I never heard another peep about it. I despise the legal system, but I suppose a class-action suit by a large group of sellers would be the only way to try?

I think most sellers, like myself, simply go ahead and accept paper payments when the buyer asks, but don't advertise taking them so as not to have listings pulled. Although eBay claimed they would be monitoring how many sales go through PP checkout and penalize those taking too much paper but I've never heard of it being enforced. Doesn't mean it isn't, though.

I've been trying to get our store in the proseller program for about six months, my owner does enough stupid shit that I have to be proactive about, I just tell them it is against the policy.

Rain Partier

thefourthman wrote:that would be a horrible idea... that leaves the seller with a huge problem if they are running tight. If everyone used paypal shipping, that wouldn't even be needed, so it would be smarter to require paypal shipping first. The other problem there is that Paypal needs to offer all the sevices of the USPS/UPS not just a select few.

Yeah, we get closer to being required to use PP shipping all the time, or what I'm afraid is coming some ghastly other eBay creation. If you didn't use their shipping (analysts predict), you would have to upload some tracking info.

I agree it sounds absolutely horrible and creates a slew of rotten problems and potential snafus for both buyer and seller, and it's probably because the braintrust at eBay hasn't figured out how to hammer it through yet that will hopefully hold it back or shitcan it completely. But that's the direction they want to go in.

One might speculate the upcoming prohibition on listing items on multiple venues could be the earliest harbinger of their future vision, as it wouldn't work to automatically deduct payment if an item might have already been sold on Amazon or Alibris and not subtracted from a seller's eBay inventory.

Rain Partier

thefourthman wrote:that would be a horrible idea... that leaves the seller with a huge problem if they are running tight. If everyone used paypal shipping, that wouldn't even be needed, so it would be smarter to require paypal shipping first. The other problem there is that Paypal needs to offer all the sevices of the USPS/UPS not just a select few.

Yeah, we get closer to being required to use PP shipping all the time, or what I'm afraid is coming some ghastly other eBay creation. If you didn't use their shipping (analysts predict), you would have to upload some tracking info.

I agree it sounds absolutely horrible and creates a slew of rotten problems and potential snafus for both buyer and seller, and it's probably because the braintrust at eBay hasn't figured out how to hammer it through yet that will hopefully hold it back or shitcan it completely. But that's the direction they want to go in.

One might speculate the upcoming prohibition on listing items on multiple venues could be the earliest harbinger of their future vision, as it wouldn't work to automatically deduct payment if an item might have already been sold on Amazon or Alibris and not subtracted from a seller's eBay inventory.

Rain Partier

thefourthman wrote:I've been trying to get our store in the proseller program for about six months, my owner does enough stupid shit that I have to be proactive about, I just tell them it is against the policy.

Proseller or Power Seller?

Looks like the new Top Rated seller program will give most of the benefits to a lot of sellers who weren't Power Sellers previously.

Rain Partier

thefourthman wrote:I've been trying to get our store in the proseller program for about six months, my owner does enough stupid shit that I have to be proactive about, I just tell them it is against the policy.

Proseller or Power Seller?

Looks like the new Top Rated seller program will give most of the benefits to a lot of sellers who weren't Power Sellers previously.

Outhouse Editor

thefourthman wrote:I've been trying to get our store in the proseller program for about six months, my owner does enough stupid shit that I have to be proactive about, I just tell them it is against the policy.[/quote

Proseller or Power Seller?

Looks like the new Top Rated seller program will give most of the benefits to a lot of sellers who weren't Power Sellers previously.

power seller, whatever the hokey shit is called... yeah I still wanna be on the straight and narrow until that time.

Dumb ass owner listed Stuff of Legend #1 and called it the new Chew, because of Ritch Johnston, then he worded the listing in the worst possible way, I got about fifteen question asking if it was for both...

Outhouse Editor

thefourthman wrote:I've been trying to get our store in the proseller program for about six months, my owner does enough stupid shit that I have to be proactive about, I just tell them it is against the policy.[/quote

Proseller or Power Seller?

Looks like the new Top Rated seller program will give most of the benefits to a lot of sellers who weren't Power Sellers previously.

power seller, whatever the hokey shit is called... yeah I still wanna be on the straight and narrow until that time.

Dumb ass owner listed Stuff of Legend #1 and called it the new Chew, because of Ritch Johnston, then he worded the listing in the worst possible way, I got about fifteen question asking if it was for both...